Championship title-chasers Leeds United reportedly want to sign Ituano star Martinelli in the summer transfer window.
Reports from TEAMtalk that Leeds United are interested in bringing a little-known Brazilian youngster by the name of Martinelli to Elland Road have raised plenty of eyebrows.
Not just because the forward is 17 years of age. But because the report states that he will cost £10 million.
After all, such a fee would make Martinelli, who plays for Ituano in the top flight of Brazilian football, their most expensive signing since Robbie Fowler swapped Liverpool for West Yorkshire all the way back in 2001.
With all things considered, this could make Martinelli the biggest risk of Victor Orta’s reign at Elland Road – if Leeds can beat Watford and Middlesbrough to the teenager’s signing that is.
Since Orta was appointed as Leeds’ transfer chief in the summer of 2017, he has made it his mission to bring as many talented youngsters to Elland Road as possible from Kun Temenuzhkov (below) to Oriol Rey, Sam Dalby to Ryan Edmondson.
The difference between the aforementioned quartet, and all of Orta’s other little-known signings, and Martinelli however is the fee.
Martinelli has only ever made eight league appearances so there is a very small sample size to work with. Shelling out £10 million, then, would mean he is no low-risk signing like Dalby, Kun and co.
Instead, spending a huge fee on a player still four months short of his 18th birthday could come to define Orta’s reign. If Martinelli succeeds, the Spaniard would look like a genius. Anything else, however, and the deal could go down in infamy.
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